Abc's Behaviour Change
An Integrative Model

An integrated model for purposeful behaviour change. Rather than present theories of counselling, Kahn uses the A (Antecedent)-B (Behaviour)-C (Consequence) Model to explain the theory and practice of many of the counselling and educational approaches employed in the late 1990s.

Humorously illustrated with personal, practical examples and tasteful cartoons, this text presents an integrated model for purposeful behavior change. Rather than present theories of counseling, Kahn uses the A (Antecedent)--B (Behavior)--C (Consequence) model to explain the theory and principles that form the foundation of many of the counseling and educational approaches employed today and demonstrates that operant behavior, emotion, physiology, neurology, cognition, social learning, and culture must all have a place in our understanding of the human experience. The author's A-B-C model offers a solid foundation for understanding the self and others.

1. ORIENTING OURSELVES TO THE A-B-C MODEL.
A Personal Introduction. A Preview Example of the A-B-C Model. Analysis and Prescription for Change. Scope of the Book. Orientation of the Model. Organization of the Book.
2. OPERANT BEHAVIOR.
Orienting Ourselves. Why Start with Operant Behavior? Operant Behavior Defined. Covert Operants. Learning Operants: Directly and Indirectly. Behavior Strength. Problem Operants: Behavior of Real Concern. Chapter Summary.
3. DESIRABLE CONSEQUENCES: WHAT WE HOPE, EXPECT, AND CREATE.
Orienting Ourselves. Contingencies. The Contingency as Covert Behavior. Categories of Consequences. Desirable Consequences. Positive Reinforcement. Negative Reinforcement. Chapter Summary.
4. UNDESIRABLE CONSEQUENCES: CONTINGENCIES WE DISLIKE.
Orienting Ourselves. Punishment. Extinction. Schedules of Reinforcement. Noncontingent Consequences and Superstitious Behavior. Chapter Summary.
5. ANTECEDENTS: OUR EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT.
Orienting Ourselves. Antecedent Stimuli as Setting Events. Stimulus Control. Stimulus Discrimination: Reading Your Antecedent Traffic Lights. Antecedents: Green Lights. Antecedents: Red Lights. Stimulus Discrimination: The Process. Antecedent Green Lights: Characteristics and Functions. Stimulus Generalization. Concepts: Discriminating within Generalizations. Chapter Summary.
6. RESPONDENTS: BEHAVIOR OF OUR BODY.
Orienting Ourselves. Our Mind/Body System. Change as a Stressor. Anxiety. Coping and Adaptation: An Example. G.A.S.: Our General Adaptation System. Alarm. Resistance. Exhaustion. Chapter Summary.
7. COVERT BEHAVIOR: INTRODUCING THE A-B-C's OF OUR MIND.
Orienting Ourselves. Our Covert Operants. The Antecedent-Covert Connection. Creating Our Own Covert Behavior. Reality: The A-B-C's of Our Assumptive World. Reality from Consensual Validation. Translating Our A-B-C's into a-b-c's. Levels of Consciousness. Automatic Pilot of Our Brain. Chapter Summary.
8. COVERT STRUCTURES AND PROCESSES.
Orienting Ourselves. Hemispheric Specialization. Left-Brain Functioning. Right-Brain Functioning. Hemispheric Integration. Developmental Schemata of Covert Processes. Assimilation, Accommodation, and Equalization of Schemata. Schemata: Our Covert Action Plans. Equilibrium and the Development of Self. Schemata as Covert a-b-c's: Developmental Factors.Chapter Summary.
9. OUR COVERT A-B-C'S: WHAT WE THINK ABOUT.
Orienting Ourselves. Our A-B-C's as a System. Cybernetic Regulation of Our A-B-C System. Change and Our Dynamic A-B-C System. The Power of Goals and Our Desired a-b-c's. Feedback and Control. Memory: Our Storage and Retrieval of Covert a-b-c's. Attributions: Our Explanations for Past and Present a-b-c's. Expectations: Predictions for Future a-b-c's. From Attributions to Expectations: A Painful Example. Chapter Summary.
10. PERSONALIZING OUR A-B-C'S: THE A-B-C'S OF THE SELF.
Orienting Ourselves. The Concept of Self. The Stability of the Self. Our Many Selves. Our Natural Tendencies for Self-Development. Protection and Enhancement of Our Covert Experience. Cognitive Dissonance: The Search for Compatible Parts. Self-Valuing: Judgments We Make about Self. The Power of Belief. The Placebo Effect. Attitudes: The Action of Beliefs. Self-Esteem and Our Valuing of Self. Intrinsic Consequences. Intrinsic Positive Reinforcement. Chapter Summary.
11. OUR JUDGMENTS OF SELF.
Orienting Ourselves. Judgments from Others. Our Covert Valuing System. Choosing Our Level of Acceptability. The Subjective Nature of Our C.V.S.. The Motivational Effects of Our C.V.S.. Intrinsic Punishment. Intrinsic Extinction. Depression as Covert Intrinsic Extinction. Intrinsic Extinction and Our Level of Acceptability. Optimism, Pessimism, and the Orientation of Our C.V.S.. Perfectionism and Our Level of Acceptability. Chapter Summary.
12. OUR COVERT EXPERIENCE OF EMOTION.
Orienting Ourselves. Emotional Memory and the Biology of Temperament. Emotion: An Integrative Covert Experience. The Physiology of Emotion: Feeling. The Amygdala/Hippocampus Partnership. Feelings and the Dental Appointment. Feelings and Our Memory of Pleasure. Bringing Our Emotions to Consciousness: Thinking. Complex Covert Partnership in Emotion. Feelings, Thinking, and Labeling of Emotion. The A-B-C Model: Closing the Circle. Chapter Summary.
REFERENCES.
INDEX.